Coalition senators' Dissenting Report
Introduction
1.1
Coalition senators do not support the Committee majority's
recommendations, and consider that the bill in its entirety should be
considered by the Senate as soon as possible.
Importance of workforce participation
1.2
Coalition senators' primary objections to the majority report have their
foundation in their strong support for initiatives that promote workforce
participation and provide appropriate incentives to encourage those who are out
of the workforce to find and maintain paid employment.
1.3
In this sense, the bill represents a continuation of the important
changes implemented by the Howard Government's Welfare to Work initiative. At
that time, the Labor party vehemently opposed the measures.[1]
Coalition Senators are pleased to note that despite initial reservations, the
current Labor government fully accepts the Howard Government's Welfare to Work
changes and, by removing the grandfathering clause, is legislating to ensure
that those changes apply to all Australians.
1.4
The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations cited
evidence that indicates that children who grow up in jobless families are
themselves much more likely to experience unemployment as adults:
Children who grow up in jobless families are far more likely
to be out of work as adults compared to those who had a working parent. It is
therefore vital that the income support system seeks to incentivise work in
order to break the dependency cycle. The system must provide the right balance
of support and incentives to work to ensure that parents are in a position to
benefit from the opportunities the economy has to offer, particularly as their
children get older and the parent‘s capacity for work increases, and provide
their families with positive role models and greater financial security.[2]
1.5
At the public hearing in Melbourne the committee heard how important it
is for Australians to be engaged in the workforce. For example, while not in
favour of Schedule 1 of the bill, Ms Netty Horton, Territorial Social
Program Director, Salvation Army, explained to the committee:
We would like to be very clear in that we are fully
supportive of moving as many people as possible—single parents or unemployed
people in general—towards being able to work, and some of the focus of our
submission has been around our experiences in working with the most
disadvantaged group of those people in our community and recognising that they
need additional support and incentives to move them into the paid workforce. We
recognise that that is the best way out of poverty and the best way to ensure
participation both for them and for their children in the community.[3]
1.6
Coalition senators believe that the bill would introduce measures to
further promote workforce participation, which can only be a good thing for not
only those who are out of work but for the country as a whole.
1.7
Coalition senators do not support the recommendations contained within
the Chair’s report.
Senator
Chris Back
Deputy Chair
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